Top Videos, June, 2026: Zinoleesky, Adekunle Gold, Keb' Mo', Ibibio Sound Machine and more

Here are eight new videos to keep your summer cooking. Nigerian diversity and innovation, and American roots feature strongly in this month’s selection.

Check out the full Afropop Top Videos playlist for all our recent selections. And remember, if you have suggestions of videos our fans would love, send them to [email protected] with the subject line “Top Videos 2026.” Enjoy!

Ezra Collective – “Only Love feat. Pa Salieutext”

This U.K. band emerged from the youth clubs of London and was “shaped by the rich musical life of the capital's churches, clubs and streets.” This lively, ritualistic video unfolds over a chill, Afrobeat vamp with brass breaks and featured rapping British-Gambian rapper Pa Salieu. The band’s upcoming album, Here Because of Hope, (out on Partisan, September 18) seeks to answer the question: “Why does so much Black music born out of pain sound so joyful?”

Adekunle Gold ft Olamide – “Formation”

Two women drive into a massive auto-repair garage, Fuji music playing on the car stereo. Gold is busy welding, but when the womens’ car stops, the real action starts, with the shop becoming a dancefloor and the two singer-rappers holding forth in all its corners. Late in the song, the Fuji comes back. Gold has always had a knack for incorporating roots music into his Afrobeats (or Afropop, as he prefers) creations.

Biribá Union – “Lamentations, ft. Mike Block, Christylez Bacon, and Patricia Ligia”

This Boston-based trio continues to surprise with its bold blend of influences. Bright sunshine and a desert setting belie the moody feel of this lamentation, kind of a minimalist jazz rap with funky breaks and a centerpiece of Christylez Bacon’s dark spoken words. Is Mike Block the first cello player to suspend the instrument at his side with a shoulder strap so he can stand and dance with it? If so, pure genius. Either way, bravo!

DESIREE & Emmanuel Jal – “Macho”

Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal puts his War Child past in the rearview with this peppy dancefloor number. His collaborator, South African producer and DJ Desiree, put a sunny spin on the mix and while Jal’s edgy rap emerges at one point, he mostly sings in a cool, velvety voice. The video is not much more than animated head-bobbing, but the track moves!

Kirungi - Esaze (David LaMotte and Chinobay)

Chinobay is a Ugandan instrumentalist who some years back, went to Mali to learn kora, and now lives in the United States. David LaMotte is an American songwriter, speaker and author. They joined forces to record and film this video in Kampala, Uganda. With its easy, rambling grooves, tasty brass kora and guitar breaks, LaMotte’s warm tenor voice and images of young dancers and other beauties of Kampala, the video takes us inside the adventure. Kirungi (chee-LOON-jee) means “beauty” or “goodness” in Luganda. But you didn’t need to know that. The music and images say it all.

Ibibio Sound Machine – “Concept of Love”

The Afro-tech wizards in this London-based collective led by Nigerian-British vocalist Eno Williams and producer Max Grunhard are back, advance promoting their new album Chopping Mountain, out 11 September via Merge Records. Here Eno Williams asks, what’s your “concept of love.” The groove is snappy Afro-disco, Williams’ voice builds nicely with supporting brass and backing vocals, and the psychedelic backdrop keeps the eye engaged.

Keb' Mo' - "Fussing and Fighting"

Here we get one of our greatest blues revivalists (preservationists? creators?) in solo mode, with just his resonator guitar and his big sandpaper-edged voice singing about a dysfunctional relationship. A romantic one? Or is he talking about our national politics? Works either way, time-worn consolation in hard times.

Zinoleesky – “Nostalgia”

Nigeria’s Oniyide Azeez--a.k.a. Zeenoleesky--rose quickly from social media fame to global stardom. Now 26-years-old, he’s leveraging his sleepy-eyed sex appeal and Afrobeats mumblecore vocal delivery with this minimalist, Amapiano influenced track. The theme is nostalgia, but watching this video it feels more like fantasy, a man and his harem!